CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The number of those victimized by paintball gun shooters across Charlotte is growing.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers said that from a distance, there’s no way to tell if a paintball gun is real or not.
Two weeks ago, two Charlotte friends told Channel 9 they wanted to start a movement using the childhood game. Tag, but with paintball guns. They claim it’s a way to tackle crime by giving people a way to hash things out without real guns.
[Paintball shooters say it's just a game: 'We're not doing anything violent']
Since January, CMPD has responded to 160 calls for service, 55 reports and 10 arrests in regards to paintball wars.
"You've got people shooting at homes, people are shooting at cars, people were shooting at a girl the other day at a bus stop,” said CMPD spokesperson Rob Tufano. "Somebody is really going to get hurt."
Paintball wars are gaining national traction, making headlines in Los Angeles, Jacksonville, Florida and Durham.
"Those incidents have just run the gamut,” Tufano said. "I don't think it's a stretch to say that somebody could wind up pulling a real gun on somebody with a paintball gun.”
That's what happened in Glynn County, Georgia, where a local paper reported a person pelted with paintballs fired back with real bullets.
[Police, homeowners angered by Charlotte paintball wars]
No one was injured, but Dan Starks, a gun expert of 30 years, said even a trained eye may have trouble telling a real gun and paintball gun apart when you only have three to five seconds to respond in a threatening situation.
"In a dark situation, in a split second, you're not going to know the difference,” Stalks said. “That's a piece of plastic, that's a real firearm, but there's no way to discern that."
Channel 9 Skyzoom captured footage earlier this month when two adults were in a paintball shootout in the middle of rush hour traffic in Charlotte.
"Look at all that police presence on the ground that day,” Tufano said. “What a waste of resources to have staffing out there to have to manage a situation."
CMPD said shooters can be facing charges like simple assault or damage to property.